NEW DELHI: The cyber cell of Delhi Police says the email address of the CEO of Tata Asset Management has been hacked and the company made to pay around Rs 7 lakh. The company had initially filed a complaint with the Okhla police station, but the case was transferred to cyber cell after the firm alleged inaction by local police, sources said.

Tata officials said the money was wired into an account with Bank of Baroda’s Okhla branch from which Rs 5 lakh was withdrawn.

The incident occurred on June 14. The finance head of the firm received an mail from the ‘CEO’, asking him to transfer money to an account number. The had supposedly tried to reach the CEO to confirm, but he wasn’t reachable as he was in the US, the company said.

“Due to the pressure created by the hacker through subsequent mails, the finance official transferred Rs 7 lakh into the account without being aware that the sender was a hacker,” said Sanjay Singh, a company employee.

The fraud came to fore when the firm sent the bank’s settlement report of the wired money to the CEO’s email ID and he claimed ignorance about having made any such request or receiving any money.

Then on June 15, another email reached the finance head from the same ID, this time demanding Rs 20 lakh be wired to another account with ICICI Bank, Allahabad. It was clear that the company had been conned.

Police said they asked the ISP for the IP address used to access the email account on the dates mentioned by the company. While police suspect the involvement of foreign nationals, they haven’t ruled out an insider hand in this.

The fact that the mails first came in when the CEO was abroad indicates that the hacker was aware that he could be out of reach and the firm might wire the money if there was any distress communication.

Police said they had some leads but were yet to identify the perpetrator (s). “From the content of the complaint and preliminary inquiry, it is revealed that the official ID—rganesh@tata.com—of the CEO has been hacked by an unidentified man and fraudulent emails sent to the finance department head. We are probing the matter and a breakthrough is likely soon,” a top officer said.

Sources, however, said the firm was still receiving emails from the hacker for money.